An ongoing fight over a proposed new Canal Street ferry terminal is expected to spill into the City Planning Commission meeting Tuesday (Feb. 21) as the Regional Transit Authority pushes ahead with a controversial request to demolish the aging ferry building on the east bank of the Mississippi River.

RTA's design for the terminal's $32 million replacement has sparked an outcry from ferry riders and transit advocates for lacking an elevated railroad crossing or sheltered walkways to protect embarking passengers from heat and rain.

The City Planning Commission earlier this month delayed RTA's request for a demolition permit in response to those concerns. The commission asked the RTA to get more input from the community and deferred the demolition request to Tuesday's meeting.

On Monday night, less than 24 hours before the commission meeting, about 70 people attended a meeting in Algiers called by RTA and the agency's private operator Transdev discuss the designs, which hadn't changed from what was first presented to the public in January.

Eric Songy with the Algiers Neighborhood Presidents Council said the new terminal design "looks like something that comes out of the Jetsons" and doesn't fit the character of New Orleans. "It seems like y'all were much more interested in connecting Spanish Plaza with the Aquarium than y'all were about creating a functional complex that's a good ferry terminal," he said.

Designs the RTA has released so far show a 3,600-square-foot glass-enclosed terminal with indoor seating areas but no covered connection to the embarkation point. Ferry boats would dock at a repurposed floating barge off the riverbank. The goal is to finish the project by 2018 for the city's tricentennial celebration.

Justin Augustine, Transdev vice president, said the demolition permit request and designs for the terminal building are separate issues. Transdev is seeking the permit to keep the construction timeline, but demolition wouldn't occur until August, he said.

Meanwhile, he said, the City Planning Commission will still have to vote on the final ferry building design.

Kristin Gisleson Palmer, former city councilwoman and a ferry advocate, asked the RTA to withdraw its request for a demolition permit until designs that take into account the community's concerns are completed.

Members of the project's design team said Tuesday that the issues being raised -- a pedestrian bridge and covered walkways or waiting areas -- continue to be discussed as the design is finalized, but the project has limited funding and other constraints.

Augustine said Transdev has raised the idea of including an elevated walkway over the tracks as part of the planned $360 million renovation of the neighboring World Trade Center building into a Four Seasons hotel. But officials with that project won't move forward with talks until litigation over the World Trade Center building is concluded, he said.

RTA and Transdev secured $15 million in federal transportation grants but are still searching for other funds.

Critics have questioned the need for the expensive glass terminal building if passengers can buy tickets outside at kiosks on the pedestrian plaza. Some have complained the new terminal appears designed more for the city's desire to spruce up the riverfront and cater to tourists.

Brian O'Reilly with Royal Engineering and Consultants said the new building is designed to fit in with its neighbors -- the Aquarium of the Americas and plans for the vacant World Trade Center.

The 37-year-old building with inoperable escalators and a walkway over the railroad tracks has been neglected for years.

RTA took over the troubled ferry operation from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in 2014 after voters in Orleans and Jefferson Parish chose two years earlier to discontinue toll collections on the Crescent City Connection. Those tolls, in part, financed the operations of ferries in the New Orleans area.

Stay with NOLA.com for coverage from today's City Planning Commission meeting.